Blue Diamond Baby Quilt - Complete!

After a long silence around these parts I am back and I've got some fun stuff to share! I'll start with what I consider to be the most exciting. A new baby quilt for a sweet new baby!

Nope. Not my baby. But really, this little man is the next best thing. One of the two families that I nanny for welcomed a brand new member of their little family last week. I got to meet him at just 7 days old and we snuggled for quite awhile!

In honor of the little man's arrival I whipped up a quilt. I had been playing with a little stack of fabric for some time trying to perfect it, and it wasn't until the new baby appeared (10 days earlier than expected!) that inspiration hit.

I used this incredible tutorial by the lovely Jess of Urban Patchwork to create what I have named the "Blue Diamond Baby Quilt." Original, I know.



Here's the stats:
Fabrics: 4 pieces of Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt, 3 men's dress shirts (thank you brother!), grey Bubbles and Blooms, and a bit of white (somewhat like Kona Snow) from Ikea. Backing has pieced strips from the fabrics on the top and some blue, also from Ikea. Bound in Bubbles and Blooms with a small piece of Big Dot Little Dot from the KJR line.
Dimensions: 36 x 52.
Quilting: Straight lines 1/4" on either side of all the seams.



What is left over of my stash of Katie Jump Rope has been really hard to part with. The only other place I have used a significant piece is in the little denim jacket I made for a baby shower gift. The fabrics are near impossible to find anymore, and I truly love the entire line, so it's been difficult to find the right project to use them in. When the new baby was born I knew they were destined for him. Not only because they fit in his nursery, but also because I know without a doubt that this quilt will be treasured. I am a big supporter of using beloved fabrics and not hoarding, but I want to be careful to use them in projects I know will be cherished and not ones that I plan to sell.



When it was all finished, I decided to use the button placket from one of the shirts I cannibalized for the project to wrap it up. Super easy! All I did was take a button and add it to the placket where the ends overlapped. I thought it was a cute way to present it to the new mommy.



I am beyond excited to have met this newest addition to the family and am looking forward to seeing him grow up. Welcome to the world Baby M!

teeny tiny baby gifts

A friend of ours recently had her 4th baby!  Little Nathan Victor arrived just a few weeks ago and we couldn't be happier for him or his parents and siblings.  Too celebrate the little ones arrival, a friend threw them a "Sprinkle Shower".  The idea was that since he is number 4, they already have a lot of the essentials, so guests were to bring little things to sprinkle the new mom and baby with.

I agonized over what to give.  Usually I would make a baby quilt, but I didn't because a) I am severely lacking in boy friendly fabrics and b) I doubt that a quilt can be considered a sprinkle, even if I really want it to be.

In the end, I made the little man 2 bibs and a monster.

I picked out a solid chocolate brown, some Alexander Henry Teeny Tiny Zoo in pool, and some Cake Rock Beach Eclipse in Water and whipped up two little bibs using a combination of the Nested Basic Bib template and the Quilted Patchwork Bib tutorial on Sew She Sews.  They were fun and really easy to make and so I am sure they will become a go-to gift for baby showers.  I also made a little RevoluzZa monster with her tutorial and pattern.  I only made a slight alteration to the mouth since I didn't want to make the embroidered one from the instructions.

All three resources provided really easy to follow instructions, so the only error I made was to sew the monster together with a wrong and a right side facing together instead of the right sides together.  Due entirely to make lack of attention.

We dropped the gifts off on our way downtown since I was unable to actually attend the Sprinkle Shower.  I got to meet tiny perfect Nathan and spend a little time with his mom and siblings.  It was great fun, and so nice to hold such a new baby.  I am glad that Nathan's mom enjoyed the gifts and am anxiously awaiting the pictures of him with the bibs and monster.